Do You Want Me, Or Do You Want Me Dead? (12/?)
The boys trained harder than ever before in the days that followed and were extremely helpful to each other as it turned out. Jack was helping Alex to be more aware of his surroundings even when he wasn’t in direct combat and Alex was teaching Jack how think differently when he was fighting and how he didn’t always have to be the one with the upper hand. Sometimes appearing to be weak was the strongest thing you could do.
Tonight the boys were leaving their underground hide-a-way and into downtown Moscow to one of the bars. They decided they needed some practice with people other than themselves since they could read each other like a book after spending so much time together as of late. The plan was simple. Jack was going to pick a target for Alex to follow the entire night without causing said person to be suspicious. Jack’s assignment was to get into a fight with someone considerably bigger than he was by appearing to be an easy target. If both boys completed their missions then Alex will have proven that he was able to see beyond the world of direct combat and Jack would demonstrate that he was capable of swallowing his pride in order to achieve his ultimate objective.
The cab dropped the boys off downtown and they entered the first bar they came across. Jack picked Alex’s mark that he was to follow around the city and he nodded in acknowledgement. They made a plan to meet at a local restaurant in exactly two hours time and Jack slipped out the frot door to the bar and set off for the dirtiest, raunchiest bar he could find.
He made it to the end of the strip where many street lights had burned out and the amount of people on the streets had significantly lessened. He saw a flickering sign above what he assumed to be a bar but of course it was written in Russian so he couldn’t be certain. He entered the building and his assumptions were quickly true as he looked at the crowd. Sitting at the bar were at least ten gigantic men who could’ve eaten Jack for breakfast if they so chose.
“What have I gotten myself into?” Jack asked himself under his breath as he put on his best drunk impersonation and stumbled over to the bar. He purposefully tripped over a chair at the bar and landed flat on his face causing all the men to look down at him. They all burst into a fit of laughter and yelled what he assumed to be taunts at him in Russian as he slowly stood up.
“I speak ENNGGLIISSHHHHH. ENGLISH. Get it right motherrrr fuckkersssss!” Jack yelled at them as they exchanged confused glances. None of them seemed to understand what Jack had said except quite possibly the largest man in all of Russia who’s eyes quickly widened.
“You vant do say thet ahgain England boy?” He spoke to Jack with a thick Russian accent.
“Youuuu talkkkk funnnyyyy!” Jack said as he burst into a fit of laughter.
“You! Outsiyde!” The man yelled to Jack with anger pouring out through his black eyes.
“Heyyy heyyyy I’m SMALL! You KILL ME BIG RUSSIAN MAN!” Jack slurred with wide eyes.
The man grabbed Jack’s shirt and drug him out of the bar with ease and simply muttered, “Eye plahn tu.”
Meanwhile, Alex was seated in a booth near the back of the club as he sipped on a Coke and kept his eyes on the short, bald man that Jack had picked for him to follow. He had already been shut down by at least four girls who he had tried to generate a conversation with and Alex just chuckled under his breath. He tried to kept his eyes constantly changing focus, just like Jack taught him. Even if the man had has back completely turned to Alex, anyone could be watching and go up to tell the stranger that some creepy guy had been staring at him all night.
Alex made his way up to the bar and flirted with the girl bartender in his flawless Russian while keeping an eye on his target with his peripheral vision. He saw the man get up to leave the bar and he waited a good five minutes before following him. He had no idea where the man had gone but instead of panicing, he took a deep breath and listened to his instincts. He exhaled and opened his eyes before entering into a bar three down from where they were previously. Sure enough, the man was inside and chatting up an extremely unimterested girl at the bar. Alex gave himself a mental pat on the pack before sliding into a booth near the back and ordering himself another drink.
The man dragged Jack outside and around the side of the building into a dark alleyway and threw him up against the wall.
“I ahm going tu mahke yu see the stahrs!” The man yelled before sending his right fist towards Jack’s face. Jack quickly ducked the punch and the man’s fist smashed against the brick wall where Jack’s head previously was and he cried out in pain.
Jack spun around behind the man and twisted his arm behind his back and forcefully pushed him up against the wall. He grabbed a handful of the man’s hair and pulled his head backwards before slamming it up against the wall and causing blood to pool steadily from his nose. Jack kicked his legs out from under him and he fell to the ground with a loud THUMP. Jack leant down to make sure the man was knocked out and sure enough his eyes were closed and his breathing was heavy.
Jack cracked his neck and pressed a cigarette to his lips and flicked his lighter a couple times before it took. He breathed a puff of smoke over the unconscious body of his new friend then set back off in the direction of his and Alex’s meeting place.
He entered the restaurant and his eyes quickly landed on a smirking Alex a few tables away. He smiled and walked over to join him.
“Well?” Alex asked.
Jack just nodded in reply and asked, “You?”
Alex mimicked the nod Jack gave him and both boys sat in silence for a few moments before Jack spoke.
“It’s time, Lex.” Jack spoke in a cold and serious tone while looking directly into the boy’s eyes. Alex didn’t have to ask what he meant. He already knew that he and Jack had learned everything they could hope to learn from each other and it was time to face the music.
“We leave at noon tomorrow.”